Splitting-machine.



W. T. B. ROBERTS.

SPLITTING MACHlNE..

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14. I914. RENEWED OCT. 16,1915.

1,185,718.] PatentedJune 6.1916.

. 57K] 55 71 Z5 61 511? ff YM [t l H41. 7

Fig. 1.

. To all whom it may concern:

U TED STATES PATENT ornro WILLIAM THOMAS BUCKINGHAM ROBERTS, 0F LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORA- TION OF NEW JERSEY.

SPLITTING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 6, 1916.

Application filed; April 14,1914, Serial No. 831,862. Renewed October 16, 1915. Serial No. 56,342;

Be it known that I, WVL'LLIAM. B. Ron- ERTS, a sub ect of the King of England, re-

siding at Leicester, Leicestershire, England,

have invented certain Improvements in Splitting'lvlachines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to splitting or evening machines and is herein illustrated in connection with a machine for splitting or evening soles which are to be used in the manufacture of boots and shoes.

It is sometimes desirablev in preparing a sole for use in the manufacture of boots and shoes to split or even the sole in accordance with the thinnest locality in the margin of the forward portion of the sole. Hitherto this operation has been carried out by a machine which automatically measures the thickness of the thinnest spot in the margin of the forward portion of a. sole and then sets the splitting or evening mechanism in accordance with this thickness. Such machines, however, are so expensive that their use is restricted to large manufacturers,

Moreover with such machines the splitting or evening is always controlled by the thickness of the thinnest spot in a selected area.

whereas it is sometimes desirable to disregard the thinnest spotand to even the sole inaccordance with the thickness of some thicker spot.

One feature of the present invention comprises a splitting mechanism adapted to be set for different thicknesses of stock, a calior not there are thinner spots in the sole.

. This and other features of the invention ina leather splitting machine in which the provided with a pair of feed rollers 1 and 3 geared to rotate in unison and driven from any convenient source of power to feed the work against the cutting edge of a splitting knife 5, the degree of thickness to which it 1s desired to even the stock being determined by the height at which. the upper roller 1 is set with relation to the edge of the knife.

The lower feed roller 3 is yieldingly supported by springs 7 in order to accommo: date the varying thicknesses of the stock belng operated upon.v

In order to set the upper roller l with' relation .to the splitting knife, the said roller has bearings at each end in vertically adiustable blocks 9 which are each provided upon their upper ends with a wedge 11 and are held by means of springs. one of which is shown at 13, in engagement with a pairv of cooperating wedges15 mounted upon the under side of a slide bar 17. The said slide bar 1s mounted between the upper roller bearing blocks 9 and a can plate 19 bolted -one direction or the other'will raise or lower the upper roller 1 with relation to the fixed splitting knife and thus determine the degree of thickness to which the stock is to be split or evened. 1 .The construction which has been outlined above is substantially shown and described in United States patent to Nash No. 894,850 and will not be described further in detail.

In the machine of the present invention a manually operated calipering device arranged to be closed upon the material is provided and is connected with the upper roller by mechanism which is so arranged that when the said device is closed upon the stock the upper roller is automatically set in correct relation to the splitting knife to split or even the stock to the degree of thickness determined by the calipering operation;

In the embodiment herein shown and described the calipering device is mounted upon the cap plate 19 of the machine and comprises an abutment 21. mounted in an upstanding lug 23 of the cap plate, and a plunger 25 between which abutment and plunger the work is inserted for the thickness-measuring operation. The plunger 25 isguided for endwise sliding movement in a second upstanding lug of the cap plate and has a slide block 29 pivoted to its rear end by means of a screw stud 31. This slide block is mounted to slide in ways in a jaw 33 projecting from the upper end of the hub 35 of a hand lever 37 hereinafter referred to as the setting lever. The said setting lever is fulcrumed to turn about a vertical spindle 39 having its ends mounted in a boss 41 formed on the cap plate, the ends of the spindle 39 protruding from said boss. A set screw 43 carried by the boss holds the spindle in fixed position. The hub 35 of the setting lever is mounted to turn upon the spindle 39 and is cut away as shown so as to embrace the boss 41. Extending from the lower end of the hub 35 of the lever 37 is a second yoke or jaw 45, the said jaw engaging a slide block 47 pivoted on a screw stud 49 carried by the slide bar 17 of the upper roller setting mechanism and secured thereto by means of a nut 51, the said slide bar being guided for endwise movement in ways cut in the under side of the cap plate.

The arrangement and proportion of the parts above described is such that, as will now be understood, movement of the setting lever 37 about its fulcrum to close the calipering device upon the stock will cause a corresponding movement of the slide bar 17 and the wedges 15 carried thereby to set the upper roller 1 so that the stock, when removed from the calipering device and fed forward to the knife by the feed rollers, will be split or evened to the thickness 'determined by the calipering operation.

The setting lever is provided at its end with a handle to which a finger latch 53 is pivoted by means of a screw stud 55. This finger latch is arranged to engage a series of teeth cut in the edge of a horizontal ratchet segment 57 secured at its ends, by means of screws, to the cap plate 19. The segment 57 is graduated so as to indicate the thickness in irons of the particular portion of stock being measured in the calipering device. The setting lever, and therefore also the upper feed roller, is locked in position by the finger latch 53 which is held in engagement with the ratchet teeth by means of a spring plunger 59 seated in the lever handle.

The mechanism may be'so arranged that the thickness to which the stock is evened or split may be adjusted initially so that it corresponds accurately with the thickness measured or so that it is slightly in excess of or less than the thickness of stock actually measured by the calipering device. To this end the threaded end of the screw stud 1-9 passes through a longitudinal slot (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2) in the slide bar so that by loosening the nut 51 the slide bar may be adjusted a short distance endwise in either direction relatively to the setting lever 37. When the screw stud is in its central position in the slot in the slide bar, the setting mechanism will be adjusted so that the stock will be out exactly to the thickness indicated by the calipering device.

In the machine shown herein the abutment 21 of the calipering device is so constructed and arranged that the work may readily be withdrawn from the said device after the calipering operation without disturbing the adjustment of the setting lever 37 and the parts connected therewith. To this end the said abutment is pivoted at its end upon a horizontal pin 61 which is adjustably held upon a screw 63, threaded through the lug 23 in which theabutmeut is mounted, and held therein by means of a nut 65. The abutment 21 is kept normally in horizontal position and is returned to this position after its pivotal movement during the withdrawal of the work by means of a flat leaf spring 67 having the form of a horizontal cover plate secured'at one end to the lug 23 by means of a pair of screws. To assist further the easy withdrawal of the work from the calipering device the lower half of the work-engaging face of the abutment is chamfered ofi as shown in Fig. 1 so that as the work is pulled upwardly and the abutment turns about its pivot pin 61 against the action of the leaf spring 67 the clamping pressure of the calipering device is relieved and the work readily removed.

In the use of the machine the operator selects the desired portion of the margin of the stock to be evened and inserts that portion between the plunger 25 and abutment 21 of the calipering device. He then seizes the handle of the setting lever 37 and turns the said lever until the plunger 25 of the calipering device is closed with suitable pressure upon the stock, whereupon the setting lever is locked in position, and the thickness of the portion of stock being calipered is indicated in irons upon the ratchet segment according to the particular tooth engaged by the finger latch, an iron being the term used to indicate one fortyeighth part of an inch. The stock is now withdrawn from the calipering device, as previously described, and is inserted between the feed rollers 1 and 3, the upper one of which has been set by the calipering operation to split the stock to the thickness indicated, as will be understood.

Although the invention has been set forth in connection with a particular machine it should be understood that the invention in the scope of its application is not limited to the particular machine shown and described.

The expression manually operated as used in the specification and claims is intended to mean operated or controlled by the" operator or workman.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. A machine of the class described having, in combination, splitting mechanism adapted to be set for different thicknesses of stock, a calipering device, and manually operated means connected with both said mechanism and said device whereby opening and closing of the calipering device changes the setting of thesplitting mechanism.

2. A machine of the class described having, in combination, splitting mechanism adapted to be set for different thicknesses of stock, a calipering device'to which a piece of stock may be manually presented and from which it may be similarly withdrawn, and means for simultaneously operating said calipering device and for setting said splitting mechanism.

3. A machine of the class described having, in combination splitting mechanism adapted to be set for different thicknesses of stock, a calipering device between the members of which the stock is placed preparatory to the splitting operation, manually operated means for causing the calipering device to grip the stock, and connecting mechanism between said splitting mechanism and said manually operated means for setting said splitting mechanism in accordance with the thickness of that portion of the stock which is gripped by the calipering device.

4. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a knife, a pair of feed rolls for advancing a piece of stock to said knife, an adjustable slide-bar the position of which determines the extent of transverse movement in one direction of one of copies of thin patent may be obtained for said rolls and consequently the thickness to which the piece of stock will be reduced, a

calipering device mounted upon the frame of the machine, and manually operated means for simultaneously actuating said I(galipering device and adjusting said slide 5. A machine of the class described having, in combination, splitting mechanism adapted to be set for different thicknesses of stock, a calipering device to which a piece of stock may be vmanually presented. and from which it may be similarly withdrawn, and means for simultaneously operating said calipering device and for setting said splitting mechanism, said calipering device comprising a pivoted abutment and yielding means for holding said abutment in place whereby withdrawal of a piece of stock from said calipering device in a direction at an angle to the direction of calipering movement is facilitated. I

6. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, splitting mechanism adapted to be set for different thicknesses of stock, a calipering device, manually controlled means connected with both said mechanism and said device whereby opening and closing of the calipering device changes the setting of the splitting means, and means whereby the splitting mechanism and the calipering device may be relatively adjusted.

In testimony whereof I havesigned my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM THOMAS BUCKINGHAM ROBERTS.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK WILLIAM WORTH, LEONARD WARWICK.

five centl each, by lddresllng the Comminloner of ratems, Washington, D. 0." 

